With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Brian_Fiction · Oct 18, 2019

Not sure why people are surprised at Paragon's behavior? We've long since established that he doesn't quite think like the rest of us anymore, those orange quotation marks aren't just for show. This isn't exactly the first time he has acted in an inhumane way, and it certainly won't be the last.

Ngamer11 · Oct 18, 2019

Are we not getting apart 12 today because of the delay?

Ej190 · Oct 18, 2019

Ngamer11 said:
Are we not getting apart 12 today because of the delay?

Ha, unlikely.
Zoar prides himself on his daily updates. The previous update is for yesterday..

Buggy123 · Oct 18, 2019

Ngamer11 said:
Are we not getting apart 12 today because of the delay?

We probably will. Zoat's pretty dedicated to the once-per-day thing and IIRC he keeps a backlog in case of delays.

Edit: Wow, that timing. I posted this about 2 seconds after I got the 'new post' notification for the post above.

Cuchulin · Oct 18, 2019

Brian_Fiction said:
Not sure why people are surprised at Paragon's behavior? We've long since established that he doesn't quite think like the rest of us anymore, those orange quotation marks aren't just for show. This isn't exactly the first time he has acted in an inhumane way, and it certainly won't be the last.

Agreed, it's been pretty clear for a while now that Paragon no longer quite gets normal human morality (I mean he does, but only if help stops and thinks about it) and generally has a somewhat inhuman mind set.

DeathlessProficiency · Oct 18, 2019

REEEEEEEEEEEEE if so

Vaermina · Oct 18, 2019

Cuchulin said:
Agreed, it's been pretty clear for a while now that Paragon no longer quite gets normal human morality (I mean he does, but only if help stops and thinks about it) and generally has a somewhat inhuman mind set.

And that's why it's only a matter of time before Jade gives him the old "It's not you, it's me." talk.

Mr Zoat · Oct 18, 2019

17th February
00:28 GMT -5

I play my cold guns over the still-burning low rise apartment building, the Kobra wannabes who set the explosives hanging off my construct tethers. Remote controlled explosives aren't that hard to make or… This is America after all, purchase completely legally. But these people decided to try re-enacting a ploy I've only seen in The Nightly News: commit a large crime and then hang about to target the people who respond to it. But whatever superweapons their masters might have access to, this street gang with delusions of mediocrity just have legally purchased rifles.

Of course, in The Nightly News they were targeting journalists and not police or firemen or paramedics.

Fire's mostly out so I switch to transferring out the wounded, causing them to appear around the ambulances. It's… A little slow going, honestly. I do want to help, but the… Not 'altruism fatigue', but… 'Desire identification fatigue'? That's closer to it. I'm being forced to fight metaphorical and literal fires threatening people in whom I have no personal investment. I don't mind helping out once or twice a week, but running to stand still just makes me-.

"Hey, Oh El."

And they're all out.

"Robin. How's your night going?"

"Kinda crazy, actually."

"I know the feeling. Is there something… Some sort of evil stellar alignment which happens in Gotham at this time of year?"

"In the middle of February? Not that I know about. But it's kind of an unknown unknown? I haven't checked." He briefly checks the area. "Do you think there's an evil calendar we could subscribe to?"

"I'll ask Jade."

"What's wrong?"

"I've never had this. A bunch of bad things happening one after the-." I frown. "Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Not after a night like this. School gets cancelled if things out here get too violent. And it won't be the first time I've had to skip." He looks up at the people I've tethered. "Who are they?"

"They were trying to commit an atrocity in order to pad their resume for their Kobra application."

"Are Kobra even still a thing?"

"We might need to look into that. Or maybe they're just behind with the news." Police cars zoom into the road, only slowing when the officers inside see me floating overhead. I deposit my prisoners next to them, with the evidence and my report landing next to the senior detective. "Does this happen a lot?"

"Remember when you said we should all spend some time in the worst cities on the planet?"

"Yes?"

"They were all worse than this."

"Yes, but… They were places known to be total holes. In poor, corrupt countries with ineffectual states. This is America, and-. Gotham was supposed to be getting better."

"I'm… Kinda surprised that you're this bothered, Oh El. This is just one night. Usually it's…"

He looks momentarily thoughtful.

"What?"

"Unless it's a villain plot."

Like what comic Bane did before he broke Batman's back. Or what comic Black Mask did to beat Batman in a fight. Or Mr Napier did once here just for the fun of it.

"What if it is?"

"Then.. we.. try and work out who it is and what they're planning. Come on, Oh El, I know you didn't sleep through the lesson."

"Sure, and that's… Nice in theory. But there are so many potential culprits-. No, I can't believe that someone coordinated with the ancient sorcerer Selina and I found under the Breed Building."

"Ah… What?"

"Oh, there was a sorcerer in a sarcophagus. Looked like he'd been there a while. The chief acolyte was sacrificing people to him. Those aren't clubbable people, and the bottom-tier supervillain I branded didn't say anything about wider cooperation."

"Would they have known? I mean, gang leaders are smart enough not to tell everyone what's going on, and…" He shakes his head. "Really an ancient wizard?"

"John Quinn and Doctor Balewa are on-site now. I mean, if someone was making a distraction then I'd guess it was them to conceal their abductions. But if things-." No, that would-. The people making diversionary attacks wouldn't be employees or cultists. They'd be third party operators nudged into making their attacks at the same time, they wouldn't have any direct communication. "How confident are you that this is being orchestrated?"

"I don't really have any evidence… But…"

"Right."

I transition down to where the police are checking over the gang members.

"Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to check them over for lingering magic effects and fairies."

"Ah…" The closest detective looks around to see if anyone knows whether I'm joking or not, but they all seem happy to leave it to the man on the spot. "Sure."

"Thank you."

I take a rune stone out and wave it at the closest Kob… Kobrite? That sounds about right. No reaction, and none of the cuts in the back of the neck or spine that might indicate the presence of a spine rider. I move on to the next, repeating the process.

"No, I'm-." The detective shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I can't let that go. Fairies?"

"About two inches high, with the ability to plug into the back of someone's neck and control them. They're from the future and they're evil. Have you ever heard of the late boxer, Mo Colley?"

"Can't say I have?"

"Huge bloke. Beat Ted Grant in his prime. Then he went crazy and murdered a couple of police officers before being shot dead. Spine rider. Forensic examiners don't look for the signs, but in somewhere as crazy as Gotham-" I keep checking, but I'm not seeing any sign that they are anything other than the violent thugs that they appear to be. "-it's worth checking, in case there's a nest of the bastard things."

"Ah…"

"Don't worry, there probably wouldn't be anything you can do at this stage anyway. But you might want to visit the range a little more for when their fleet arrives. Large calibre rifles can kill the soldier types, though you'd need an automatic cannon to hurt the war beasts."

"I'll… Keep that in mind."

"No fairies here, though." I turn up my empathic vision in case that shows anything, but all I'm getting is the standard mix of angry, violent disaffection. "Thank you for your forbearance."

I transition back up to Richard.

"So if this is orchestrated..?"

"I'm not seeing a pattern so far. But someone must have seen that gang who attacked the mayor's house arrive."

I nod. "CCTV room it is."

thebishop8 · Oct 18, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
"They were trying to commit and atrocity

*an atrocity

So, are we going to see the Court of Owls next or what?

Ngamer11 · Oct 18, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
He shakes his head. "Really an ancient wizard?"

I think there should be a comma after "Really".

Ganurath · Oct 18, 2019

My guess? Paul told the police that Batman was in Ukraine, and word hit the street without the context of Paul saying that Cake Man now lived in Gotham.

Buggy123 · Oct 18, 2019

Ganurath said:
My guess? Paul told the police that Batman was in Ukraine, and word hit the street without the context of Paul saying that Cake Man now lived in Gotham.

Its a possibility. And it actually works in his favor, because a bunch of people are going to act at what they think is the best possible time, when it's really the worst.

Edit: Plus, they'll be rushing to do things while the opportunity lasts, so they won't be quite as effective or cause as much collateral as if they had done things at their own pace.

Grimnar · Oct 18, 2019

I love him constantly bringing up the fairies. Everyone is going to think he's insane...

Until the Fleet arrives.

*Ancient Alien Dude* "Fairies".

ForeverShogo · Oct 18, 2019

For all his bluster, Paul has remarkably low (mental) stamina if the stuff we've seen thus far is all it takes for him to feel worn out.

Chojin Patriarch · Oct 18, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
I play my cold guns over the still-burning low rise apartment building, the Kobra wannabes who set the explosives hanging off my construct tethers. Remote controlled explosives aren't that hard to make or… This is America after all, purchase completely legally. But these people decided to try re-enacting a ploy I've only seen in The Nightly News; commit a large crime and then hang about to target the people who respond to it. But whatever superweapons their masters might have access to, this street gang with delusions of mediocrity just have legally purchased rifles.

Of course, in The Nightly News they were targeting journalists and not police or firemen or paramedics.

Either way, still an asshole move. Seriously, these guys sound like distilled jackass.
(And let's not start arguing about real-world occurrences of this sort of thing, please?

)

Fire's mostly out so I switch to transferring out the wounded, causing them to appear around the ambulances. It's… A little slow going, honestly. I do want to help, but the… Not 'altruism fatigue', but… 'Desire identification fatigue'? That's closer to it. I'm being forced to fight metaphorical and literal fires threatening people in whom I have no personal investment. I don't mind helping out once or twice a week, but running to stand still just makes me-.

Even with enlightenment, that'd be a significant issue. Might want to train that.

"Hey, Oh El."

And they're all out.

"Robin. How's your night going?"

"Kinda crazy, actually."

Sounds like a busy night all round town. Wonder what Talia's been facing...

"I know the feeling. Is there something… Some sort of evil stellar alignment which happens in Gotham at this time of year?"

"In the middle of February? Not that I know about. But it's kind of an unknown unknown? I haven't checked." He briefly checks the area. "Do you think there's an evil calendar we could subscribe to?"

"I'll ask Jade."

Heh, she would know, wouldn't she? I'm sure the Shadows had something.

"What's wrong?"

"I've never had this. A bunch of bad things happening one after the-." I frown. "Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Not after a night like this. School gets cancelled if things out here get too violent. And it won't be the first time I've had to skip." He looks up at the people I've tethered. "Who are they?"

The joy of a superheroic nightlife.

"They were trying to commit and atrocity in order to pad their resume for their Kobra application."

"Are Kobra even still a thing?"

"We might need to look into that. Or maybe they're just behind with the news." Police cars zoom into the road, only slowing when the officers inside see me floating overhead. I deposit my prisoners next to them, with the evidence and my report landing next to the senior detective. "Does this happen a lot?"

"Eh, this is a little busier than normal. Should see some nights, it gets way more whacko."

"Remember when you said we should all spend some time in worst cities on the planet?"

"Yes?"

"They were all worse than this."

"Yes, but… They were places known to be total holes. In poor, corrupt countries with ineffectual states. This is America, and-. Gotham was supposed to be getting better."

Change takes time. Gotham isn't going to turn into a vision of sunshine and roses overnight. Well, besides that time Swamp Thing rolled through...

"I'm… Kinda surprised that you're this bothered, Oh El. This is just one night. Usually it's…"

He looks momentarily thoughtful.

"What?"

"Unless it's a villain plot."

Don't attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity or dumb luck, Robin.

Like what comic Bane did before he broke Batman's back. Or what comic Black Mask did to beat Batman in a fight. Or Mr Napier did once here just for the fun of it.

"What if it is?"

"Then.. we.. try and work out who it is and what they're planning. Come on, Oh El, I know you didn't sleep through the lesson."

A lesson delivered by Batman, no doubt...

"Sure, and that's… Nice in theory. But there are so many potential culprits-. No, I can't believe that someone coordinated with the ancient sorcerer Selina and I found under the Breed Building."

"Ah… What?"

He says it so casually...

"Oh, there was a sorcerer in a sarcophagus. Looked like he'd been there a while. The chief acolyte was sacrificing people to him. Those aren't clubbable people, and the bottom-tier supervillain I branded didn't say anything about wider cooperation."

"Would they have known? I mean, gang leaders are smart enough not to tell everyone what's going on, and…" He shakes his head. "Really an ancient wizard?"

Seriously, I would not even be surprised at this point. OL's stirred up weirder.

"John Quinn and Doctor Balewa are on-site now. I mean, if someone was making a distraction then I'd guess it was them to conceal their abductions. But if things-." No, that would-. The people making diversionary attacks wouldn't be employees or cultists. They'd be third party operators nudged into making their attacks at the same time, they wouldn't have any direct communication. "How confident are you that this is being orchestrated?"

"I don't really have any evidence… But…"

"Right."

Ugh, if it is somehow being orchestrated... Ra's is still dead, right?
(In before: "The SI doesn't know")

I transition down to where the police are checking over the gang members.

"Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to check them over for lingering magic effects and fairies."

"Ah…" The closest detective looks around to see if anyone knows whether I'm joking or not, but they all seem happy to leave it to the man on the spot. "Sure."

"Thank you."

Hey, the glowing, flying guy wants to do something, they get to do it. I doubt the cops are paid enough to say no.

I take a rune stone out and wave it at the closest Kob… Kobrite? That sounds about right. No reaction, and none of the cuts in the back of the neck or spine that might indicate the presence of a spine rider. I move onto the next, repeating the process.

"No, I'm-." The detective shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I can't let that go. Fairies?"

Even from OL, it sounds hard to believe.

"About two inches high, with the ability to plug into the back of someone's neck and control them. They're from the future and they're evil. Have you ever heard of the later boxer, Mo Colley?"

Correction: 'the late boxer'

"Can't say I have?"

"Huge bloke. Beat Ted Grant in his prime. Then he went crazy and murdered a couple of police officers before being shot dead. Spine rider. Forensic examiners don't look for the signs, but in somewhere as crazy as Gotham-" I keep checking, but I'm not seeing any sign that there are anything other than the violent thugs that they appear to be. "-it's worth checking, in case there's a nest of the bastard things."

"I've heard of 'off with the fairies', but..."

"Ah…"

"Don't worry, there probably wouldn't be anything you can do at this stage anyway. But you might want to visit the range a little more for when their fleet arrives. Large calibre rifles can kill the soldiers types, thought you'd need an automatic cannon to hurt the war beasts."

"I'll… Keep that in mind."

Seriously, he says it so casually... You can't help but take it at face value.
Correction: 'the soldier types'

"No fairies here, though." I turn up my empathic vision in case that shows anything, but all I'm getting is the standard mix of angry, violent disaffection. "Thank you for your forbearance."

I transition back up to Richard.

"So if this is orchestrated..?"

"Not that I'm saying it is..."

"I'm not seeing a pattern so far. But someone must have seen that gang who attacked the major's house arrive."

I nod. "CCTV room it is."

Seriously, Mr Zoat, you just had to play through the mission glitch? I would have reloaded and hoped...

It's shaping up to be a busy night. Let's hope Batwoman checks in soon, just to be sure she's not caught up in things.

Slayer Anderson · Oct 18, 2019

ForeverShogo said:
For all his bluster, Paul has remarkably low (mental) stamina if the stuff we've seen thus far is all it takes for him to feel worn out.

He has it when it counts, like when he was trapped on that alternate Earth with Zatana. Since the world was going to, functionally, end if he didn't fight the good fight, he was motivated enough to take on pretty much everything that came his way.

The problem here, as Paul states, is motivation. There's not much personal involvement in a lot of these tiny crimes, no matter how horrible or tragic they are on the small scale.

Mr Zoat · Oct 18, 2019

thebishop8 said:
*an atrocity

Thank you, corrected.

So, are we going to see the Court of Owls next or what?

I consider the Court to be one of those 'too stupid to exist' things.

Ngamer11 said:
I think there should be a comma after "Really".

I don't.

PDV said:
Rereading some early episodes and found a broken link.

Not sure what the original video link was, but now it goes it a picture.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Correction: 'the late boxer'
Seriously, he says it so casually... You can't help but take it at face value.
Correction: 'the soldier types'

Thank you, corrected.

kedgisgo · Oct 18, 2019

...seeing the way he's acting, I think Paul needs to take a look at the back of his own neck... they might not be able to control him.. but wearing him down little by little seems like something evil bondage future space fae would do

Lothlo · Oct 18, 2019

If OL wants a quiet night, he should put a Big OL signal in the sky (like batman's) with caption: " I live here now, and I hate loud neighbors. Wake me up, and you will know why not even the Host of Heaven could stop me"

Handlewithcare · Oct 18, 2019

His frustration is showing.

Also spine riders.

Delightful.

B.B. Rain · Oct 18, 2019

...if this was a comic, or, you know, official DC, I'd suspect Talia of being in on whatever's happening, either as part of a long-term plot she set-up by seducing Bruce, or because she's suddenly been possessed by Ra's.

You know, due to the whole 'Batman can't be a happily married man' thing.

Since this is Zoat, however, I'm pretty sure he's not going to pull that. Like 90%. Unless he's actually shipping Bruce/Selina, and this is a long-term gambit to really set it up while thoroughly shutting down the Bruce/Talia pairing with a big disaster angle.

King of Frost · Oct 18, 2019

A bit weird that OL and Robin were trying to link every big crime they encountered without considering the possibility that there is cooperation or direction going on, but that doesn't necessarily mean everything that happens is going to be part of it.

Like the ancient sorcerer they found is probably unrelated even if there is something big happening. And a lot of the smaller crimes are probably unrelated. It may be getting better but it's still Gotham.

Buggy123 · Oct 18, 2019

kedgisgo said:
...seeing the way he's acting, I think Paul needs to take a look at the back of his own neck... they might not be able to control him.. but wearing him down little by little seems like something evil bondage future space fae would do

Realisticly, there's no way they could do that without him noticing immediately, that wouldn't also prevent him from noticing it without putting in substantial effort.

He has a power ring monitoring his entire anatomy down to a molecular level, which can, will, and has acted according to passive desires such as a desire for physical wellness or a desire to not be mind whammied. Getting through a enviromental shield and that, without him noticing, would be difficult to say the least.

Sneaking up on him when he wasn't wearing the ring would require that they somehow mind whammy him just right to prevent either him or the ring from noticing afterwards, without otherwise affecting him noticeably (because the people around him would have noticed, and we'd notice), which would be quite a accomplishment. And he's trained to notice and resist mind whammies, which would make it even harder. And he's got a powerful anti-magic defense which alerts him to magic usage, and he's switched them out at least once so far (which would circumvent the one and only 'stealthy' way we've seen to bypass them).

So... probably not likely. That, or the faeries are terrifyingly competent.

NightmareWarden · Oct 18, 2019

Could Boss Smiley have a new plot up and running? He seems to have enough reach to pull this off.

If this Gotham business is just a coincidence though rather than something targeting Paul... I wonder if he if feeling some sort of backlash from the Ophidian's current status? The Reach or some other faction against the Orange Corps are bound to have some sort of esoteric weapon that slipped Paul's memory or flat-out hasn't come up before. Basically I'm skeptical that Paul's motivation level is completely normal here.

Norgarth · Oct 18, 2019

Chojin Patriarch said:
Ugh, if it is somehow being orchestrated... Ra's is still dead, right?
(In before: "The SI doesn't know")

Paragon side, we never even had confirmation that Ra was dead in the first place, he just disappeared. It's assumed that the rest of the Light eliminated him as a liability/loose end after OL helped smash the Shadows (repeatedly) by uncovering their hideouts.
That said, Talia believes he's dead.

TheMidnightRook · Oct 18, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
"I'm not seeing a pattern so far. But someone must have seen that gang who attacked the major's house arrive."

Pretty sure it was the mayor's house that got attacked, not some random Army/Marine/Air Force/National Guard officer's.

Mr Zoat · Oct 18, 2019

TheMidnightRook said:
Pretty sure it was the mayor's house that got attacked, not some random Army/Marine/Air Force/National Guard officer's.

Thank you, corrected.

Norgarth said:
Paragon side, we never even had confirmation that Ra was dead in the first place, he just disappeared. It's assumed that the rest of the Light eliminated him as a liability/loose end after OL helped smash the Shadows (repeatedly) by uncovering their hideouts.
That said, Talia believes he's dead.

And Luthor strongly implied that he was dead.

Lokpik · Oct 18, 2019

Hmmm this is Gotham, earth has actually been invaded before. Both the criminal elements and law officers for Gotham are hearing about a potential fleet invasion from the Cake guy who does go offworld. I kinda want to see commissioner Gordon requesting autocannons and possibly a donation via Wayne industries. In not sure what lex is up to but might I make a suggestion of giving him the Intel of the future threat, we know he both would prep for and be able to field a large force of security personnel. Or hmmm us he dealing with earth made ships?

Stsword · Oct 18, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
And Luthor strongly implied that he was dead.

Yes, but the guy as obsessed with staying alive as Ra's, it would seem rather out of character to not make use of access to Cadmus technology to make a spare or two...

In which the question isn't did he die, but if it stuck.

PrinceJonathan · Oct 18, 2019

thebishop8 said:
So, are we going to see the Court of Owls next or what?

I'd like to see the Court of Owls, but they're all really old and senile like the High Lords of Terra from If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device.

Just a bunch of crusty old farts who got together back in the 30's-40's and formed a Society of Evil that never really did anything, and now they're all in a retirement home.

With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Terribly Lost

Experienced.

Getting sticky.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Versed in the lewd.

Know what you're doing yet?

Well worn.

Dedicated ragequitter

Umm, ackchyually...

Experienced.

Apologizes For Nothing

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Versed in the lewd.

Not too sore, are you?

Veteran Lurker

Orthodox Heretic

Dedicated ragequitter

Semi-Professional Lurker

Not too sore, are you?

Versed in the lewd.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Wishing I was somewhere colder no doubt.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Versed in the lewd.

Making the rounds.

Well worn.

Dedicated ragequitter

Not too sore, are you?

Versed in the lewd.

Versed in the lewd.

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